Everyday Systems

Hi,
I am a 38 year old female. I am short and fat and I eat too much sugar.

I have been on the diet roller coaster. It sucks.

This year I have decided to take a new approach. Instead of trying to lose all my excess weight in 3 months by trying to stick to rigid diets, I am going to give myself one year (or more if necessary). This year I want my success to be that I found a diet that I could follow and stick with for the long term. So, after thinking about what kind of diet I think I would like to enjoy, this diet came to mind. I will consider myself super successful if I can just stick to one program for the whole year without seeking out any new diets.

And I want to commit to at least 15 minutes of strength training most days.

One year of consistent No-S and 15 minutes of exercise most days.

I hope my goals aren't too lofty.

Welcome! I think NoS is a wonderful lifestyle and a great solution to end dieting! I first committed for 12 weeks, and am close to completing my second 12 weeks (I am on week 22!). Anyway, one year is great, but smaller commitments might seem more manageable for you at first.

See you around the boards!

Thanks automatedeating.

You may be right. My husband reminded me today that I have a tendency to make big goals and then quit at the first sign of failure. I am an all-or-nothing person. Perhaps setting a smaller goal will be better (for eating and exercising). I will think about it.

Hi CM,

I think you can do it as NoS is all about habit, not weight. I would suggest that you listen to the podcasts, especially the one about strictness and the what-the-hell-effect so if you ever do fall off the wagon (as most of us do from time to time) you will have the skills and mental attitude to get right back on it.

For me personally, to try both the diet and the strength training at the same time would be to much. If you find that it is, I would consider do one for one or two months or even longer and then add the other. So maybe commit to NoS for the year and do the strength training as often as you can but don't track it until your NoS habits are firm. However, you might find that you can do both at once My humble willpower is ever so limited but yours mightn't be.

Good luck!

Every time I started, I tried to do No S and exercise at the same time. Guess what? I would quit after a few weeks.

This time I focused on No S only. Now that I have that down pretty well (still red days here and there, but overall pretty good), I'm focusing on moving more.

Take it slow. Too many changes at once will wear out your resolve.

CM2014 wrote:And I want to commit to at least 15 minutes of strength training most days.

Fifteen minutes of strength training - assuming you are lifting weights - most days is overly ambitious unless you are a hardcore bodybuilder or Olympic caliber weight lifter.

I suggest one or two weekly training sessions of whole body compound movements, one set to failure (failure means being unable to perform one rep in good form).

You all made some very good points.

Perhaps I am being too ambitious in my goals. I am at a stressful point in life right now (high stress job + children). I think that just focusing on No S may be better than trying to start an exercise routine too. Sometimes I forget that I am not in a race...tomorrow will come whether I overeat or not.

I will make my first goal to just stick with NO S through January. Today has been good.

Instead of strength training, I would do a moderate walking goal. Start out with fourteen minutes TOTAL and then after that gets easy move up from there.

I am giving advice and hoping I listen too. Ha! One day at a time. One decision at a time. I am listening to the others. It makes sense to start with fewer goals, see success and add more goals as we move along.

Good luck! You have gotten some great advice from some experienced NoSers, I see! Take their advice to heart.

CM2014, long-term is definitely the way to go.